Makes An Idol

Deuteronomy 27:13-15 – And these tribes shall stand on Mount Ebal to pronounce curses: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali. The Levites shall recite to all the people of Israel in a loud voice: “Cursed is anyone who makes an idol—a thing detestable to the Lord, the work of skilled hands—and sets it up in secret.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”

Exodus 20:4 – “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.

Isaiah 44:13,17-19 – The carpenter measures with a line and makes an outline with a marker; he roughs it out with chisels and marks it with compasses. He shapes it in human form, human form in all its glory, that it may dwell in a shrine…From the rest he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships. He prays to it and says, “Save me! You are my god!” They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand. No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, “Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”

Jeremiah 10:5,7 – Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good.”… Who should not fear you, King of the nations? This is your due. Among all the wise leaders of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you.

Hosea 8:6 – They are from Israel! This calf—a metalworker has made it; it is not God. It will be broken in pieces, that calf of Samaria.

Deuteronomy 27:26 – “Cursed is anyone who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”

Application:

• ·         Because God has no visible form, any idol intended to resemble Him would be a sinful misrepresentation of Him. Since other gods are not to be worshiped, making idols of them would be equally sinful.
• ·         The Lord detests idols. Molek and Chemosh are called detestable gods. Those who worship idols are also called detestable.
• ·         Human beings were made in the image of God, but an idol is made in their image.
• ·         Whereas those who worshiped idols associated the god with the idol, for Isaiah there was no god for the idol to represent, so he depicts idolatry as worship of a mere “block of wood”.
• ·         “Eyes are plastered…minds closed” was Israel’s condition. The description ironically characterizes both the idols and those who worship them.
• ·         Idols can do nothing at all.
• ·         Unlike the gods of the surrounding nations, limited to their own territories, the Lord is King over all.
• ·         Israel’s leaders and Jeroboam I had said “These are your gods”, but Hosea said “It is not God”.
• ·         Humankind is under a curse because no one follows the law of God fully.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV